Triumph seems the most appropriate word choice to describe the premiere of El Juez at the Theater an der Wien in order to celebrate the first 10 years of this young Viennese opera house. After more than 10 years, Josep Carreras sang opera back again to Vienna, seducing the local public that, once again, proved to be unique at expressing appreciation and gratitude to one of the opera stars they have loved most: almost twenty minutes of uninterrupted ovations forced to raise the curtain on several occasions, allowing the cast to receive the homage of the whole, crowded hall in both performances, each of which was sold-out since a few months.After the world premiere in Bilbao in 2014 and additional performances in Erl and St. Petersburg, Josep Carreras offered the dramatic theme of missing children in Spain, torn from their dissident families and re-educated according to the Franco regime principle, in one of the cities his glorious career has been more attached to through the work of the Austrian composer Christian Kolonovits , with libretto by Angelika Messner. The two performances were held respectively on 2 and 5 July.With no intention to do any politics, Kolonovits chose to be inspired by a historical scenario which the tenor's family had closely experienced and turned it into a completely tonal music, with echoes of the best operatic tradition but also with references to Spanish rhythms and even to musicals. Strongly impacting, the scene by Emilio Sagi and Daniel Bianco is the same as previous performances, and deeply apt to represent one of the darkest chapters of Spanish history.Through the subtitles in German the public has been able to fully understand and appreciate the work and the great performance of all the cast members.A few months before turning 70, Josep Carreras proved to be an amazing master of interpretation, showing also a great vocal and physical condition. Once again, he prodigiously sketched out the inner drama of his character, Judge Federico Ribas, a custom-made role in order to exploit all his strong point, which currently seem one of a kind: overwhelming in the most dramatic peaks and exquisite in the most lyrical passages, respectively embodied by his two major arias, Sistema cruel and Tras los ojos llora el alma, both rewarded with long and warm applause. However, it would not be appropriate to circumscribe so much talent only in these two very moments, since he was able to perfectly relate with his colleagues on-stage, conveying further prestige at both vocal and scenic level.Reviews as well as the public expressed well-deserved appreciation towards the rest of the cast: José tenor Luis Sola and soprano Sabina Puértolas, respectively portraying songwriter Alberto García songwriter and journalist Paula, were warmly ovationed as they were responsible for some of the most emotional motifs: both with beautiful timbre and agility in the high register, they played their roles correctly and with great personality.Carlo Colombara showed a remarkable stage presence and vocal power: he plausibly played evil Morales, vice-president of the extreme right wing, with his dark timbre as well as good diction.Ana Ibarra gave life with great intensity to the abbess' despair: she perfectly expressed her soul torn apart by a violent contrast of feelings: loyalty to God, strong maternal instinct and gradual awareness of guilt.The rest of the cast did a great job as well: charismatic mezzosoprano María José Suárez, in the double role of a nun and María, soprano Itziar de Unda with her joyful coloratura to represent the light-heartedness of the other nun, dramatic soprano Milagros Martín with her pregnant invective, baritone Manel Esteve, brilliant in the role of the cameraman, and the four men of Morales: Julian Henao González, Thomas David Birch, Ben Connor and Stefan Cerny. The judge's daughter was played by Lana Matic.Worthy of note was also the performance of the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and its soloists, along with that of the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien live properly by David Giménez.Overall, a huge success which everyone contributed. Congratulations to all the cast, especially to Josep Carreras for having once again demonstrated such mastery and remarkable interpretive sensitivity once again.